Writer Stephen King gets his name slapped on an awful lot of product
that sometimes bears little resemblance to his source material.
However, the title inclusion of his name in "Stephen King’s Silver
Bullet" is fair use, as King not only wrote the novelette "Cycle of the
Werewolf," but also penned the screenplay. The movie is sort of
endearing in its schlock mid-‘80s way, with a pretty uncongealed
mixture of horror, coming-of-age drama and black comedy.

For some reason, "Silver Bullet" is set in 1976 and narrated in
hindsight by Jane (played as a teen by Megan Follows, with Tovah
Feldshuh providing the adult voiceover), older sister of
wheelchair-bound young hero Marty (Corey Haim). Jane and Marty live in
the small New England town of Tarker’s Mills, where something begins to
prey on the townsfolk in bloody fashion. Marty starts to believe the
culprit may be of a supernatural nature, but he has a hard time getting
any adults – or Jane – to agree with him. The only grown-up who takes
Marty even partly seriously is his Uncle Red (Gary Busey), an alcoholic
who is nevertheless the most supportive figure in Marty’s young life.

In his novels, King is an acknowledged master of mingling extremely
recognizable, day-to-day aspects of life with things that go bump in
the night. Screen adaptations of his work have a rockier track record,
in part because that combination, while hard on the page, becomes
practically impossible on film. "Silver Bullet" plays partly like an
Afterschool Special, examining the bond between physically disabled
nephew and emotionally crippled uncle, and partly like full-tilt
schlock horror that doesn’t know if it wants to go for camp, terror or
both. King gets in the occasional good dialogue exchange, but they feel
more like riffs than anything that propels the plot, which has
surprisingly few twists. Not much is made of people doubting Marty –
eventually, when people are asked to look into his suspicions, they
comply.

Director Daniel Attias gets in one genuinely nightmarish sequence in
Chapter 9, where a variety of werewolf makeups are employed to create a
hellish tableau (even if it owes a lot to Neil Jordan’s "The Company of
Wolves"). However, the main lycanthrope has a look that was dated even
at the time of "Bullet’s" release, let alone now – the makeup just
isn’t scary. The werewolf’s facial mechanisms operate smoothly, but it
lacks the epic malevolence required to fulfill the story’s needs.
Indeed, the werewolf, for all the mess it makes, doesn’t have too many
impressive moves – the Tarker’s Mills beast must be the only one of its
kind ever to beat anyone to death with a baseball bat. There also
aren’t too many moments that provide good, solid jolts, something the
genre demands. The decision to have Jane’s character narrate is
especially peculiar, as it doesn’t serve to increase our comprehension
of the story but only tells us that she’ll live to tell the tale, which
further undercuts any sense of suspense.

Then again, "Silver Bullet" doesn’t qualify as a dog. Follows and Haim
both give good performances, Busey is amiable and Terry O’Quinn has
some nice scenes as the tentative local sheriff. Everett McGill as the
local reverend reveals a deep voice that is imposing even in the 2.0
mono track. The storyline is logical as far as it goes and the
characterizations have internal consistency.

Needless to say (but we’ll say it anyway), 2.0 mono means that there
are no directional sound effects. As sound does not seem to be used as
a primary means of generating tension, it’s unclear whether a surround
mix would make much difference to the overall effect. Print quality is
excellent, though the film has the look of a TV movie, lit and designed
without adornment.

People with a fondness for monster movies that aren’t scary but
nevertheless faithfully deliver said monster confronted by a small band
of dedicated misfits will find a place in their hearts for "Stephen
King’s Silver Bullet." People in search of scares should look elsewhere.